About Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez

Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez is a non-profit professional, social worker, educator, writer, and the proud co-author of Redefining Rebbetzin - proving daily that orthodox-feminist is not an oxymoron. She dreams of combining her love of outreach, women's health, social media, and Jewish law into a global resource for women's health and halacha. Melissa is currently living and learning in Jerusalem in order to further her ability to make her dream come true.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with conferences since the first GA I attended as a Hillel delegate while I was in graduate school nearly ten years ago. However, I have nothing but love and admiration for JOFA, so missing the conference is a very sad reality for me.

It would absolutely be the highlight of my year to be able to spend a day networking with other Orthodox Feminists, making face-to-face connections with people I’ve interacted with online, thanking the staff and board members of JOFA in person for their amazing work, and attending a variety of sessions to which I feel a strong personal tie.

As a woman saying kaddish, I would find the panel on kaddish inherently interesting and relevant to me.

As a recovered anorexic, I would find the panel on eating disorders extremely important to me.

As a woman who is pregnant with her first child, I find the session on naming ceremonies for baby girls is enticing.

As a blogger, I have much to contribute in the session on blogging

As someone who learns Halacha and Talmud, I wish I could be part of the sessions addressing assorted halachic issues and women’s learning and leadership

Agunot, Israel, education, mkvaot… I could go on and on through most of the sessions being offered, and how they resonate with me personally. Even if I was able to attend the conference, I would have had a horrible time selecting just one session in each time slot to attend!

However, I’m currently living and learning in Israel, and regardless of how much I love JOFA and this conference, it was just not feasible to fly to America for one amazing day. So I will rely on the hashtag to follow along on Twitter and this blog to read other people’s shared reactions to the experience. I will have to live vicariously through the amazing men and women who get to be there and look forward to the day when I will join them.

Do you wish you were able to attend the JOFA conference? Well JOFA has one word for you: Livestreaming. Click here to find out how you can be at the conference from the comfort of your own living room!

Note: The opinions expressed here are the personal views of the author. All comments on MyJewishLearning are moderated. Any comment that is offensive or inappropriate will be removed. Privacy Policy

FOLLOW THE TORCH »

About The Torch

The Torch explores gender and religion in the Jewish community. Named for Deborah the Prophetess, "the woman of torches," the blog highlights the passion and fiery leadership of Jewish feminists, while evoking the powerful image of feminists "passing the torch" to a new generation.